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wanderwhim
Case Study
wanderwhim was a 10 day sprint focused on researching and developing a comprehensive mobile app for users to plan and share road trips. This was a student project while at the Flatiron School, and includes research/discovery, UX, and UI.
Role
Lead UX Designer
Tools
Figma
Keynote
Overview
Problem Statement
Frequent auto travelers need a comprehensive mobile tool to effectively plan and share their road trips in one place.
Goal
Understand how travelers calculate their road trip route, involve fellow travelers in the planning, and how they stay on track while driving.
Target Market
Solo travelers
Vacationers
National Park visitors
Campers and hikers
Vehicle owners
Curious people
Research
Interviews
Four interviews were conducted on participants identified as possible target market individuals. The interviews were structured to explore the route-planning and execution process. They focused on how planners collaborate, how destinations are discovered, and how travelers pass time on the trip.
2 Planners
“It's a lot of planning. I want to be the most efficient with my time, I want to be able to see the most things.”
- Participant 1
2 Along-for-the-Riders
“Oh, I don't think about that until the morning of or right before I leave, and then I just put the location in my maps app.”
- Participant 4
4 Outdoor Enthusiasts
“I feel like most of my road trips are either for hiking or camping or some sort of outdoor activity or seeing like national parks or state parks or anything like that. It's mostly like seeing pretty areas, stopping on the road to fish. You know, stopping in those hole in the wall little lodges. Things like that.”
- Participant 2
1
Route Calculation
Planning often starts months in advance, and involves finding inspiration from friends, Instagram, or Pinterest. Travelers plan to be the most efficient with their time so they can see the most sights in one trip.
2
Planning with Friends
Some travelers do the planning for their entire group, but ask for input from others. Caravanners engage a collaborative notes page (e.g. Google Sheets) to track suggestions and requests.
3
Road Trip Entertainment
Drivers enjoy listening to music & podcasts while traveling. Passengers sometimes play trivia games or create their own talking points to stay engaged and present while riding in the car.
4
Staying on Track vs. Spontaneity
People want to know what’s around them when traveling through unknown territory. Travelers don’t like to miss out on popular sights and experiences if they are close by, even if the location was not in the original plan.
The ultimate goal of road trip travelers is to make memories. While an app cannot make memories for them, it can hopefully eliminate the frustration and anxiety travelers may feel when adventuring and planning for travel.
Road Trippers' Process
After compiling the results and insights from the interviews, a rough timeline of useful apps is created to represent the planning and traveling process. Specific tools are used to plan, and even more differing mobile apps are used once travelers hit the road.
wanderwhim aims to take the place of most, if not all, of these apps used over the course of the planning and execution of the typical road trip.
The interview findings shed light on the nuanced decision-making process of parents when selecting private schools for their children, proving how the decision is ultimately an emotional one.
Potential App Features
To align with our target market's personal goals and preferences, we'll compile a feature list for the mobile app. It's essential to prioritize the overarching goals of the target audience when determining the primary components of the app's functionality.
Integrating Artificial Intelligence
The USA is responsible for over a fifth of all downloads of AI apps in the first quarter of 2023.
User Need
Optimize a road trip route including multiple different stops in a wide geographical range.
AI Opportunity
AI algorithms can analyze various factors to suggest the most efficient route, saving time, planning, and fuel.
Ideation
Rapid Sketches
Rapid sketching was employed to generate an abundance of low-fidelity ideas for different screens of the mobile app. The first focus was on the Dashboard screen and the app's Universal Navigation Bar. The Must-Have features determined during the Research stage were prioritized in the design of this screen, to ensure users had an efficient way to achieve the main user goals.
Mid-Fidelity Prototype
User flows were fleshed out in the mid-fidelity stage.
Usability Testing - Round 1
In-person moderated usability tests were conducted for 3 user flows, using the mid-fidelity Figma prototype. A few insights are highlighted:
1
Map Views Button
The Map Views menu on the Maps Page is too hidden behind the Trip Name. The Views menu is an essential feature and demands it’s own designated labeled button.
2
Itinerary Page
There was a lack of functionality discovered at the top of the itinerary page. For all the space the user icons were occupying, actionable goals could not be achieved in the area.
3
Overall Ease
After completing the three user tasks, the participants felt satisfied. Both mentioned the flows were intuitive and clear.
Style & Logo Design
Determining the Tone
wanderwhim
{
{
to move about without a fixed course, aim, or goal
a capricious or eccentric and often sudden idea or turn of the mind
Inspiring
Photographic
Minimal
Whimsical
Organic
Pier Sans Bold
+
Pier Sans Regular
Intentional Color Palette
wanderwhim's colors mimic a long winding road through hazy blue mountains. The natural and modern design and color palette will evoke feelings of adventure.
Signifying Logo
wanderwhim's logo is inspired by the California segment of Pacific Coast Highway, specifically the long curved arcs of road that can be seen from an aerial view.
wanderwhim
Final Prototype
Mapping & Tracking Adventures
By including specific tools in the wanderwhim app, we can empower road travelers to feel informed when making route decisions, and at-ease while on the road. Some ways we did this include:
Dashboard
-
See the day's plan
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Learn about the stops on your route
-
Access business/park websites
Map Views
-
Explore the area around you
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Track your caravan
-
Stay on route
Itinerary
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Customize your route
-
Collaborate and comment
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Search for sights
My Car
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Access your listening platforms
-
Play car games with your crew
-
Queue songs
Business Opportunities
-
Subscription model
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Premade itineraries for purchase
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Promotion of relevant business sponsors
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Affiliate marketing for experiences
-
Exclusive games
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Merchandise sales
Next Steps
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Make changes from second round of usability tests.
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Develop AI Assess Efficiency tool and test.
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Finalize database, games, and map options.
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Identify stakeholders, sponsors, and staff.
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Test the app on a real-life adventure.
Reflection
Was the problem solved?
wanderwhim strives to:
-
Keep users organized
-
Allow for collaboration with friends
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Show stop recommendations based on location
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Keep travelers entertained
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Keep planners informed
...so all travelers have to worry about while on the road is making memories.
What was learned?
Ergonomic functionality should be looked into, especially for an app that could be used by drivers (I do not condone this).
Having related personal experiences is helpful, but you need to extract your opinions from the design process and apply the research findings.
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